Peter Frank Radford (born 20 September 1939) is a former

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

sprinter, who competed at 100 and

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

(and 100 and 220 yards), broke world records, and won Olympic medals, despite having been seriously ill as a child due to a hole in his kidney.

Biography

Running

Radford took up competitive running at the age of 12, soon joining

Birchfield Harriers Birchfield Harriers is an sport of athletics, athletics club, founded in 1877. Its home is at Birmingham's Alexander Stadium, England. As well as welcoming recreational runners they cater for all levels of experience up to and including Olympi ...

, where he was coached by Bill Marlow, and won the English Schools intermediate 100 yard title in 1955 and seniors 100 yards in 1957. He attended Tettenhall College. At the age of 18 at the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Cardiff in July 1958, he came fourth at 100 yards, was a semi-finalist in the 220 yards, and won a sprint relay gold medal with the England 4×110 yards relay team. In August of that year he competed in the European Championships where he won a bronze medal in the 100 metres and a silver medal as part of the British 4×100 metres relay team. In September of the same year he equalled the European record of 20.8 seconds for 200m in Paris. On 28 May 1960, he broke the

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

for 220 yards with a time of 20.5 seconds, at the Staffordshire Championships in Wolverhampton. The time and record were also accepted for the 200 metre distance. He represented Great Britain in the 100 and 200 metres at the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 1960 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awar ...

held in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, Italy, where he won the bronze medal at 100 metres. He then teamed up with fellow British athletes David Jones, David Segal and

Nick Whitehead Neville Joseph "Nick" Whitehead (29 May 1933 – 6 October 2002) was a Welsh sprinter and sports administrator. Early life and career Whitehead was born in Wrexham. He competed for Great Britain in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome in the 4 × ...

to finish third in the 4×100 metres relay. The USA finished first in that race but were disqualified for a baton exchange outside the permitted zone which then elevated Britain to third. Videos show that Radford's baton pass to David Jones at the first changeover was also outside the permitted zone so the Britons were fortunate not to be disqualified as well. Radford won a second British Empire and Commonwealth Games Gold medal in

Perth, Western Australia Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

in 1962 as a member of the England 4×110 yards relay team, and represented Britain as a quarter-finalist at both 100m and 200m at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, albeit as a late selection. He was eliminated from the 100m in the second-round heats, but ran the first leg of the relay, which broke the UK record. Following Tokyo, he retired from competition, due to a recurring knee ligament problem. At that time, and for at least another two decades, he was the most successful sprinter in Birchfield Harriers' history. Radford was twice British 100 yards champion after winning the British

AAA Championships The AAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event in the United Kingdom during its lifetime, despite the existence of the offi ...

title at the 1959 AAA Championships and 1960 AAA Championships.

Administrator and writer

For 12 years from 1965, he lived and worked in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and the USA. He is a former Chairman of

UK Athletics UK Athletics (UKA) is the governing body for the sport of athletics (sport), athletics in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for overseeing the governance of athletics events in the UK as well as athletes, their development, and athletics o ...

and chairman (in 1993) and 'executive between chairman' (1994–97) of its predecessor, the British Athletics Federation. He was founder professor of the chair of the department of physical education and sports science at Glasgow University, and is currently Professor of Sport at

Brunel University Brunel University of London (BUL) is a public research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It is named after Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a Victorian engineer and pioneer of the Industrial Revolution. It became a university ...

. In the fall of 2018, Radford was in-residence as a short-term fellow at the Folger Library's Folger Institute in Washington, DC, to study and present on "the corporeal and sporting early modern woman." Radford wrote a

biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curri ...

of the 19th-century Scottish athlete

Robert Barclay Allardice Robert Barclay Allardice of Ury (25 August 1779, Stonehaven, Kincardineshire – 1 May 1854), generally known as Captain Barclay, was a notable Scottish walker of the early 19th century, known as the celebrated pedestrian. His most famous feat w ...

, entitled ''The celebrated Captain Barclay: sport, money and fame in Regency Britain'' and published in 2001. A photograph of him running against Italy, three months before the 1960 Olympics, is featured on the cover of the 2011/2012 BT

telephone directory A telephone directory, commonly called a telephone book, telephone address book, phonebook, or the white and yellow pages, is a listing of telephone subscribers in a geographical area or subscribers to services provided by the organization tha ...

, ''The Phone Book'', for

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

North,''The Phone Book'', Birmingham North, 2011/2012: BT which covers the home of Birchfield Harriers,

Perry Barr Stadium Perry Barr Stadium (also known as Perry Barr Greyhound Stadium and previously as Alexander Sports Ground(s)) is a Greyhound racing in the United Kingdom, greyhound racing and motorcycle speedway stadium on Aldridge Road in Perry Barr, Birmin ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Radford, Peter 1939 births Living people Sportspeople from Walsall English male sprinters British male sprinters Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England European Athletics Championships medalists World record setters in athletics (track and field) Birchfield Harriers People educated at Tettenhall College Academics of the University of Glasgow Academics of Brunel University London English sportswriters Sports historians English male non-fiction writers Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Medallists at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics